One Arm Man
by meechy
Summary: Sheppard's team needs to track down kidnapped Rodney McKay and not only save his life, but the life of another Earthling lost in the Pegasus Galaxy
1. Chapter 1

One armed Man

OFFWORLD. Team Sheppard is at yet another village in the Pegasus Galaxy, but unlike most villages Primori has discovered the use of steam. With this knowledge they have created several machines and devices that use steam for power. Doctor Rodney McKay stands outside a wooden building with a look of pride and joy on his face. He stands aside and gestures for a villager to wheel a cart past him, then looks to Teyla Emmagan, who is standing nearby, and Ronon Dex who is sitting on a bench outside the hut.

"You don't have to look like that." Ronan was sitting on a rough stone bench near a wooden art piece. The Satadean was extremely bored and hoped that some Wraith would come through the Stargate to end his boredom before he cut off his own hand.

"Look like what?" Rodney had a self-satisfied look on his face.

"Alright, let's get ready to leave." Sheppard emerged from the building with one of the elders of Primori.

"You're not sticking around for my lecture?" Rodney looked somewhat injured that his team was leaving.

"We are going to the gate to give Woolsey an update. We'll be back way before your lecture ends, I'm sure." Sheppard reassured Rodney as they headed off towards the Stargate, with Ronon quickly taking lead.

"Oh, okay. Well then I will see you when you get back." Turning to the village elder Rodney gestured to the door and they both walked in.

At the Gate

"So how is Dr. McKay's lecture to the Primori going?" Woolsey asked from Stargate command. He was looking over the daily reports from all the various departments of Atlantis while listening to Sheppard.

"Ah, good. You know Rodney, any chance to help elevate the technology on any planet is a great opportunity for us." Sheppard wanted to miss what he knew would be a long and boring scientific lesson on steam power.

"So you left before he started?" Woolsey knew Dr. McKay was one of the most valued members of the Atlantis mission and he didn't have a problem letting you know that he was that valued. As geniuses go, McKay could sometimes be difficult to get along with, but he has improved over the last couple weeks since being abducted by a rogue element of the Asgardians.

"I… thought that… our mission report should be done on time. The Primori are very open and willing to trade pretty much anything with us. As soon as Rodney helps them improve their steam power output and make it more efficient for them." Sheppard paused

"Ah hum, well it's good to see that you are being punctual with your reports. Especially being 30 minutes early. Is this going to become a new trend with you Sheppard on every mission?"

"Well I wouldn't say that, but it does feel good being…."

Just then a large explosion echoed from the village where McKay was going to be demonstrating a new high pressure valve and boiler to the Primori engineers that would increase their power output a thousand fold.

"Colonel Sheppard what was that? Sounded like an explosion?" Woolsey's voice was full of concern

"It was, back at the village where Rodney is at. Woolsey you better send a medical team and combat engineers to the village." Sheppard Ronon and Teyla where running back to the Primori village which was about a 20 min walk from the gate and Sheppard was hoping a quick 6 to 8 minute dead run.

Entering the village Colonel Sheppard felt a gut wrenching knot in the pit of his stomach. The building where Rodney and the Primori elders and engineers was all but destroyed. Debris scattered over the road and some pieces of wooden embedded into the building across the way giving evidence to the power of the explosion. Slowly they walked to the building, hoping that somehow Rodney McKay had survived. The sound of a jumper over head grew louder as he, Ronon and Teyla search for signs of life.

"There are no burnt marks that are customary with a large explosion?" Teyla Emmagan was praying silently in her heart for Rodney's safety as they and the villagers picked through the ruins of the building.

"Steam power is different than most power sources. It's the gathering of high pressure from boiling water and that release through various pipes and valves allow for machines to move and work. Rodney's design was to achieve maximum pressure in a short period of time, almost instant, then release it through a series of small regulated pipes." Colonel Sheppard was directing the combat engineers to move the larger pieces of the building.

"Colonel Sheppard where is Rodney?" Dr. Jennifer Keller had a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Rodney is okay. Once we find him…" She cut him off with a raised had

"That's not what I mean. Where is anybody or body parts?" John Sheppard looked around the scene of destruction and saw, partial pipes, wood, metal and furniture, but not one single piece of any body part.

"There had to be at least 20 people in that building." Ronon looked puzzled as did several others in the search as they listened to Sheppard and Keller.

"If none of them where in it when it blew up and they aren't in the village, then where the hell are they?"

The lite humming of the hyper drive can be soothing during travel, but to Rodney McKay it was an alarm. As he and several of the Primori people gain consciousness they realized they were in a holding cell of some kind.

"Seriously, not again!" Rodney McKay said in disgust, fear and weariness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

HYPERSPACE

The alien ship was moving through hyperspace effortlessly. The azure and arctic blue plasma waves of hyperspace was an amazing show of fluctuating streams of light as a ship sailed through on its way to a destination. Most humans found this beautiful, peaceful and even mesmerizing, but to the Crintox it was repulsive and painful, which is why all viewing ports on the ship were shielded. The Crintox hated bright light of any kind and preferred the safety and coolness of the dark.

"Oh this is just great!" Dr. Rodney McKay along with the Primori villagers were in a low lite holding cell. The walls and floor had a reptilian metallic sheen to them and in the low light it appeared that the walls fluctuated.

Rodney got to his feet and realized that whoever it was that abducted him, left him with his tablet and Life Sign Detector of the Ancients, which meant that he could probably find a way out of the cell, then what?

"Ok, ok, let's see if there is an access panel or something I can by pass to get access to the ship." He moved along a wall using the LED light from the tablet to illuminate parts of the wall as he examined inch by inch of the section.

"Ah ha, think if I can use a screw drive to pop out the panel…."The cell brighten with an incandescent yellowish light. A raspy voice was talking, then the wall behind McKay shimmered and vanished. Behind the wall was a larger room, but also a cell with others in it. Fearful they all moved to the room, except Rodney. He tried to work quickly and open the panel he found, but the voice was impatient and soon the sound of buzzing grew louder and electric bolts leaped up from the floor and painfully herded everyone out of the room.

"I'm going, I'm going, you don't need to shock us!" quickly Rodney and the Primori elders entered the other room.

"Thank you for trying to save us." An elder approached Rodney as he again resumed his search to find another access panel.

"Don't thank me just yet. We're in Hyperspace going to who knows where and I'm not sure who it is that has taken us. I know it's not the Wraith or a Traveller's ship, but some advanced alien we have yet to encounter and that just makes things a little more difficult."

ATLANTIS

Atlantis command was busy like a beehive trying to come up with what happen to Rodney and the villagers of Primori.

"When is the Daedalus supposed to arrive?" John Sheppard was standing in the command center of Atlantis worried about a member of his team. Feeling anxious not knowing where Rodney McKay was, if he was safe or in harm's way or even dead. Yes that very real possibility, always surfaced when, not just his team, but anyone from Atlantis suddenly disappeared or held hostage or encountered alien technology. They had, in his opinion, the most dangerous job in the universe, galactic peace keepers. He silently chuckled to himself, it was meant as an insult from a Genii spy, but so very true. They, Atlantis Command had the weight, responsibility and duty of combating the Wraith, the Genii, The Replicators and any other faction or alien species that would dare to cause harm on their watch, on his watch.

"Well that ain't gonna happen." John said softly to himself.

"You say something Colonel?" Woolsey asked

"Nothing…. What was the ETA of the Daedalus?"

"Within the hour, Colonel Caldwell sent a message several minutes ago." Amelia Banks informed John as she helped Zelenka run some calculations to help the search for Rodney.

"We don't have a lot a time to just sit around and do nothing. McKay could be out there in trouble up to his neck."

HYPERSPACE

"Sorry, sorry, sorry" Rodney apologized as the unknown person held him by his neck.

"I asked to be left alone, but you couldn't respect me to do that." The very large man towered over McKay in the cell.

"I know, I know, but you're from Earth right and I thought we could have something in common and I wanted to let you that I, I, I too am from Earth." The man looked closely at Rodney as if seeing him for the first time.

"Canada?" the man let go of McKay and sat down on the bench he had been a sleep on when Rodney disturbed his rest.

"How'd you get way out here in the Pegasus Galaxy, that is very unusual to say the least, but being aboard an alien ship in a cell is also pretty amazing." Rodney's mind was racing to solve this enigma. The only way to the Pegasus Galaxy was by Atlantis Stargate, the Midway station or a ship with Hyperdrive.

"How is that amazing?" the man looked puzzled at McKay's analysis of his situation.

"Well because you met me. I think it's amazing that you and I over vast distances of space happened to meet."

"How did you know I was from Earth anyway?"

"Not many villagers or aliens wear snickers with that logo on them." McKay gesturing to the size 16 wide Nike logo.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Oh, but how did you get to, what did you call this, Pegasus Galaxy?" the large man was deeply confused at being so far from home, but something more troubling was on his mind.

"Yeah, 3 million light years from Earth or Milky Way. How did you get here, I mean it must have been something incredible. It's not like walking down to your local grocery store." Rodney sat next to the displaced man from Earth and not just wanting to know the technology that brought him to Pegasus, but was genuinely concerned about get him and this man out of the cell and off this ship. McKay was hoping that, if his size was any indication of strength and possible fighting ability, that made his job all the simpler, he could protect Rodney, while he figured away to freedom.

"I don't know." The man said somberly

"You don't know, what? How you got here, the aliens or ship or technology, what exactly don't you know?" Rodney said a little frustrated.

"Anything, I can't remember who I am or where I came from. All I remember was waking up in a tube of some kind in space, drifting. I was in there for days, before ending up here. All I know is my name is Derrick Johnson." Derrick pulled out his wallet and an ID card with his picture on it.

"Let me see." McKay grabbed the wallet and looked through it.

"No driver's license, just this name tag, but this is important though." Rodney had hoped not all of this man's memories where gone. Experiencing different individuals from the Stargate program that had lost their identity, but had for the most part retained their training to some degree.

"Why" the man asked hopefully

"Because you worked at Intel, in fact this badge is from the Seattle center and your badges color and design means you were in the Engineering department. This can be a huge advantage for getting us off this ship." McKay was excited he started going through the tablet looking for something specific, but before he could find it Derrick interrupted him.

"Do you think this can help?" from an inner pocket of the Jacket he was wearing Derrick pulled out a cell phone.

"Well, maybe, I can check your phones motherboard and see if it has anything worth using. But I am not too optimistic about it. Most of these "Smart Phones", aren't really useful for doing anything other than playing games." As he was talking and working on his tablet Derrick interrupted him again. Rodney had a frustrated look on his face.

"I really think you should look it over. Most of the things like apps and what not are there, but there is a weird interface on the last panel of the phone." Derrick did a weird design connection various dots on the opening screen that unlocked the phone.

"How did you know how to do that?" Rodney yet again was validated by his theory of Derrick retaining certain muscle memory and secondary skills that you don't have to think to do.

"I don't know, it just seemed the right thing to do." Rodney waited not really interested in what a smart phone can hold that his tablet, with ancient technology couldn't do.

"See, this doesn't look right, does it?" Rodney's eyes widen as he was looking at the 5th panel of this smart phone. It was a simple menu, but it's what the menu said that was very interesting.

"Probe, Diagnostic, Advanced systems and interface. What type of phone did you say this is?" Rodney seemed perplexed at this phones uncharacteristic functions icons.

"Not sure, when you go to settings on the phones menu and look for the personal info, nothing is there. Only basic generic information, but the apps work and so does the other features." Derrick raised the phone at McKay who quickly felt nervous.

"Ah what are you doing?"

"Probe…." The phone made a very faint chime

"Diagnostic…" on the screen a 3D reference of Rodney with several points of information were available. Derrick handed it to McKay.

"Holy crap, medical, neurological, chemical, biological and technological. This is amazing…." Rodney selected different panels to see the information in the drop down list. Under medical Rodney selected a bright orange dot that was located on his brain image. A panel with a series of information and energy wave pattern showed up.

"Oh my, this this this is unbelievable." McKay was astounded

"What?"

"About a year ago, I was infected by a parasite that caused me to lose my memories. I was taken to Talus a planet that used to belong to the ancients by some friends who wanted to help me regain partial memory clarity, so they could say their good byes."

"That's harsh"

"Yeah, that's what I said, but if they hadn't I wouldn't be here. Anyway, the parasite shrunk from exposure to some gamma radiation the ancients uses a long time ago. Dr. Keller was able to do an interesting surgical procedure that removed the parasite from my head. Your scans are showing those radiations energy signature."

"You mean you still have the radiation in your head or something?"

"No, it's more like an imprint of the exposure to the radiation imbedded in my cells, that your devices picked up. The technology to do something like that is even greater than the ancients or has a very advanced understanding of DNA beyond the subatomic layer." McKay started going through the other information on the smart phone.

"So it's helpful enough that we can find a way to escape?" Derrick leaned over McKay's shoulder as he navigated the phones interface.

"That's a big fat yes. Do you think you can remember the password to get access to the advanced features?" Derrick looked at the 8 digit code and started slowly pressing numbers. The first two attempts were unsuccessful.

"Don't try to over think it, do what you did to open the phone from the lock screen." The words, "One wrong attempt and the phone will disable." Was flashing above the digital keyboard.

ATLANTIS

"Col. Sheppard the Daedalus is ready to depart once you come up with a plan of action for the search of Dr. McKay." In the conference room Woolsey, Teyla, Ronon, Zelenka, Sheppard and Col. Coldwell were brain storming the situation of Rodney's disappearance along with the elders and engineers from the Primori village.

"With the improved long range sensors on the Daedalus fined tuned to this radiation output, theoretically we should be able to track it. " Zelenka pushed back his glasses

"What if they went into hyperspace?" Col Caldwell asked

"Once we do some preliminary modifications to the Daedalus' Asgard Sensor to track this specific radiation, it may also allow us to find the ships unique hyper drive frequency, but as I said it is untested theory."

"Let me know if there is anything you need Col. Caldwell to help speed up the modifications on the Daedalus. Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon take a squad of Marines with you. We don't know who ever took Dr. McKay are hostile or inquisitive, so I would like to be prepared for either. Along with sending Dr. Keller in case there is any emergency medical needs. Be careful."

"I just need Zelenka and his team to make the modifications ASAP so we can be on our way, if I'm not mistaken this time sensitive?"

"Yes, the radiation at the village has already started to decay, but we can get to the planet in an hour and pick up any residual radiation in orbit." They all rose from the table

"Okay, Zelenka get on board the Daedalus with your team and make the modification. I'll get Major Lorne and his squad and meet up with you guys on the Daedalus." John was leaving when Woolsey motioned with a head nodded to walk with him.

"What's up?"

"I know you are anxious to find Rodney, but I need for you to be unemotional to a point. Again we don't know what has happened to McKay or what situation he's in. A very wise man once said, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. What I'm saying is, just be prepared to do your job, just like with Dr. Weir."

John thought long and hard about leaving Elizabeth behind with the Replicators. Many a night he had lost sleep, about what he could have done different and swore he would never let that happen again to a member of his team or to someone he carried about. He thought to himself again, not on my watch.

"You know there is saying I've tried to live by. Leave no man behind, sir." John turned and went to find Major Lorne and his team.


End file.
